I just got a public link from a customer to a nextcloud server for exchanging data, someting like
https://cloud.xxx.com/s/SPSx34XXXXF6iWWE
You can create a link like this using the context menu in Windows File Explorer, and it doesn’t require any login credentials.
Is there a way to map this kind of link to a windows drive instead of using a browser for working?
It would make (at least my) life a lot easier…
Thanks!
Hi @BEmain,
That’s an interesting request. I will definitely incorporate your idea as a direct feature in NcDavTray[1]—essentially just entering a link and mounting it as a drive—though it is actually already possible:
If you receive a share from someone else, open it and look for the “Add to your Nextcloud” option in the top-right corner (behind the three-dot menu)
Add it to your own Nextcloud.
The prerequisite for this to work is that the following settings are configured on both servers within the “Sharing” tab of the admin settings page
Once you’ve added the share to your Nextcloud, you can use NcDavTray[1:1] to map that specific share to a Windows drive letter.
h.t.h.
ernolf
Hi ernolf,
it’s good to see that it works, when a recipient already having nextcloud running.
What about any recipients of a public link who don’t yet have nextcloud client or server running and low level IT knowledge?
Is there a way to get this managed with a script or something, that also could be sent to the recipient?
NcDavTray also started with a batch mount nine-liner[1]. But that was just very capricious and didn’t always work. Over time, this became an increasingly better and more sophisticated piece of software, which could no longer simply run as a batch file, but instead required a language that also enabled graphical interfaces and could have an impact deep into the Windows architecture: Powershell. Everything with the one thought in mind to make it as easy as possible for people with - as you call it - “low level IT knowledge” to securely and, above all, reliable mount a nextcloud server, be it entirely or just individual folders, no matter how deep they are in the folder structure, as a Windows drive letter.
But it’s still basically a script, even if it now contains over 4300 lines of highly compact code. What I mean by compact is that if I were to run it through a linter, I would probably get 12,000 lines of code 
The idea behind it is ease of use and reliability on the smallest possible code base.
I understand your concern well and will look into it in the near future, but I can’t make any promises to you because there is only one of me and actually my main job is grandpa. There is no point in giving you half-baked oneliners, which in practice are more likely to cause despair than to be perceived as helpful.
Everyone is of course welcome to publish their oneliner, script or whatever solution here, but forgive me if I hold back a little. If I publish something, it has to work really cleanly and reliably and be well thought out from start to finish.
ernolf
All with low level IT knowledge will be happy with what they get, since they don’t have any idea about more and better options. For thos with somewhat more then low level IT knowledge will be the following helpful:
Thanks for all your replies.
Now I know the background better and I’ll think about what might be the best solution for me.
In my opinion, public shares are primarily intended for one-off use cases, like classic file sharing where the recipient downloads the files. They also work well for short-term collaboration on a specific project, for example when a customer needs to review or approve a document, leave comments etc, you could use a public share instead of sending the file back and forth via email.
For long-term use cases such as permanently sharing folders with customers, family, friends, etc. it makes much more sense to create proper user accounts for them.
In the long run, that’s both more secure and more convenient. Users can simply sign in normally, use the desktop or mobile client, benefit from synchronization, and you can manage their access centrally without having to rely on permanent public links.
Oh, and did I mention it already? It’s also more secure!
Or, if it’s just about sharing specific items, a guest account is practically made for such use cases.
